Q&A: New City Attorney Morgan Foley Talks Experience, Redevelopment

Morgan Foley plays three different roles in San Diego County. For 11 years, he's been the city attorney for both El Cajon and Coronado and just weeks ago, he was chosen to play the same role in Poway.

A partner at McDougal, Love, Eckis, Boehmer and Foley, a firm that specializes in municipal law and provides city attorneys for five of the 18 cities in San Diego County, Foley was appointed just about a week after Lisa Foster resigned in a closed-door session of the City Council. Now, he spends two afternoons a week in Poway and has plans to resign from his position in Coronado by fiscal year's end.

Foley, a resident of the Mount Helix-La Mesa area who said he's glad there's little information about him on the Web after I mentioned how difficult it was for me to research him, took some time off from his schedule to sit down with Poway Patch for an interview.

Poway Patch: Why did you choose to apply to be the Poway city attorney?

Morgan Foley: It's been a client for us for many years since 1983 and when I came to this firm, Steve Eckis was the city attorney and I actually did work for him here in Poway. When he retired I still handled things like financing for the redevelopment agencies or the city, but by that time I already picked up the two cities.

Poway Patch: How were you chosen to apply for this job among your colleagues at the firm?

Foley: I was the only one that was available, in a sense, on the days of the council meetings, even though Coronado has meetings on the same days. It was just the process of elimination and my willingness to switch cities to keep us working for Poway.

Poway Patch: Your partner at the firm is former City Attorney Lisa Foster. How have you responded to those who are curious about her sudden resignation?

Foley: I really haven't had to deal with that and if someone wants to ask, they can always get in touch with her.

Poway Patch: Did she give you any tips when you took over?

Foley: I'm not sure if I had any tips, but her office is right next door to mine so when I have questions I ask her. I've been a city attorney for a number of years so ... if there's something that I need to know from a background basis on Poway, then I can ask her.

Poway Patch: How has your role with El Cajon and Coronado prepared you for Poway?

Foley: I don't know if they prepared me for Poway because I'm just getting started here. Coronado's a lot like Poway except it's a smaller community, but it's a community of people who are involved, come to council meetings, ask questions and do participate as volunteers on commissions and that sort of thing. El Cajon is not as involved with its citizenry to come to meetings but it's a much larger city than the two.

Poway Patch: What kind of challenges are you facing as you transition into this role?

Foley: Getting to know the community really is the biggest challenge and understanding where the council is going as far as policy goes. It really is unbeknownst to me as to what is out there, what people like or dislike about Poway or their government. It's getting used to that, finding out what issues are out there that need to be addressed by the council and, if necessary, by this office.

Poway Patch: OK, so let's talk about redevelopment now. Many local governments have said they'll sue the state if Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal comes to life. Have you talked about this for Poway or even El Cajon and Coronado?

Foley: I can't tell you what I've talked about with my clients. It's confidential. I can tell you it is a concern for all our municipal clients on what might happen if this legislation goes through. I do know that there are strong feelings out there that it's illegal, it's unconstitutional. I know that are very strong sentiments in that regard here in San Diego County—not only here in San Diego County but throughout the state. My guess is there will be some sort of a challenge if that legislation does get passed and signed. It's a challenge that could have some success as far as I can tell.

Poway Patch: So, from a legal standpoint—is it unconstitutional?

Foley: The proposed legislation attempts to circumvent Prop. 22 that was adopted by the voters last year. There's always a question as to whether the state can take away property, assets of another public entity just like a private entity. Those sort of issues may raise constitutional claims of taking without just compensation.

Poway Patch: OK, so back at the local level. Some of the most controversial cases stacked against the city of Poway are the gnatcatchers issue at Arbolitos Park and the ongoing battle against Lee Tartre and Diane Armstrong. What can Powegians expect from those cases now that you're the city attorney? Will they come to a close anytime soon?

Foley: I really don't know. I know that one of my partners is handling those. I honestly don't know what the status is.

Poway Patch: So, how does it work if you're the city attorney and someone else at your law firm handles the case?

Foley: We have a contract with the city. The contract allows the city to choose us and give us work. It could be litigation, finance issues, real property negotiations, personnel matters, employee disputes. ... besides that we provide the city attorney, a person like me who is the general practitioner in municipal law.

Poway Patch: Is the relationship comparable to a private client then?

Foley: It's sort of a mixture but it isn't much different from having a full-time city attorney like San Diego or Chula Vista. We just do it a different way. We don't have the city attorneys be employees of the city; the attorneys are our employees and we provide the services.

Poway Patch: What's one thing most people would be surprised to know about you?

Foley: You know, I couldn't tell ya.

Quick Facts:

• Originally from Visalia in the San Joaquin Valley.
• Did his undergrad work in political science at UC Berkeley and graduate work at Santa Clara University (graduated in the same class as Councilwoman Merrilee Boyack though the two did not know each other).
• Married with two sons, ages 24 and 27.
• Hobbies are reading, golfing and traveling.